Close call with wildlife!

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The guide came out of a cenote bathroom looking equal parts amused and terrified. Gave us a heads up that he had some trouble unlocking the door.

Looked in, big a** tarantula right by the lock, straight out of some Indiana Jones scene. Luckily he had told me it was there - I would’ve crapped my wetsuit if not.
 
Rented a nice looking beach house in Taveuni, Fiji with nice deck and lots of tropical fruit plants down to the beach.

Day 1 beautiful weather, enjoying the beach where you could see fish, eels and seasnakes.

Day 2 came out to cook breakfast and found the real "owner" of the house: A big tarantula looking spider bigger than my hand, hanging out in the kitchen. We were probably lucky to see him on the floor after he had already gotten off the counter. Good morning Fiji style. We sent him on vacation for a bit to see his buddies.

Day 3, I got sick like my wife knew would happen after a sickly woman in the boarding lounge suddenly stuck her face in mine to ask me something. Then it started raining. Not just rain but horizontal complete whiteout 50 feet away on the beach rain. For 6 days. The house was going to be great because there was no damn TV, radio or any of that because we would be diving and running around the island. So NOTHING to do but be sick. Until the leaks in the house started. Had to get up off the rock they called a bed and eventually, all the furniture was piled up on the corner of the house. I livened up the time by visiting another 3rd world hospital because I felt so bad from illness and dehydration. Then we went diving with an outfit whose covered aluminum speedboat caused carbon monoxide to flow back into the passenger area turning my wife into a sputtering idiot in 15 mins. Finally made it to the next part of the trip where the sailboat worked out great, but hey good times
 
Not diving but while we were in the Amazon rain forest some years back i had a scary meeting with a spider. Got up to use the bathroom in the middle of the night, sat down and looked around with my torch. saw a giant spider sitting in the corner and thought to myself, "ok, i see you and you aren't moving so cool...". Look around a minute or so later and the bugger is no longer there.

Wiping brought on a whole new lever of terror.

Last year, our first day on Coz I went into the backyard with my daughter and stepped right on a fire ant nest. Must have been around 100 bites on my foot and leg. Being me, I shook it off and rinsed them off in the hose bibb. Well, 10 minutes later I was passed out on the concrete walk with my two kids standing over me. Luckily my wife ran and got handfuls of benadryl and prednisone from the nearby pharmacy and drugged me up good. I was able to get up and go to dinner but I was a mess for a few days. Went diving the next day and sucked my tanks in 30 minutes. Anaphylactic shock is no joke.
 
shore dives with entry or exit through areas with sunfish or bluegill nesting...... you will proceed with caution....

Sunfish?
 
I was snorkeling and using my fin to pick up and examine Cassiopeia upside down jellyfish. It was interesting the first few times while I was up current but much more exciting the final time while I was down current.
 
a.k.a. Pumpkinseed

I'm really confused now. Sunfish are absolutely harmless. A pumpkinseed even less so.
 
proclivity for nipples

I remember those little buggers used to eat the scabs off my knees as a kid. Thank god I never experienced the nipple thing.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/teric/

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